Part of the Family - Christadelphians, the Kindertransport, and Rescue from the Holocaust (Volume 2)

Description

Author: Jason Hensley. 465 pages, paper back. Published by the author in June 2017.

The first volume of this series described the beliefs of the Christadelphians, and told the stories of ten of the children who had left their parents and come to live with Christadelphians via the Kindertransport. This second volume does the same. Just as the first, ten of these child survivors, and their families, give their testimony. Unlike the first volume, however, some of these survivors did not live with Christadelphian families – living instead in Elpis Lodge, the hostel sponsored by Christadelphians in Birmingham. Because of that, this second volume includes further details and primary sources relating to the hostel (in a 55 page appendix), in addition to recounting their childhood, flight from Germany, and new life in England. These are their stories.

Information on the Christadelphian ecclesias in Germany during the 1930's together with the experience of some brethren in excercising their conscience also forms part of the book.

Both volumes are illustrated by many black and white photographs and contains copious information on the sources used and a bibliography.

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Table of Contents Volume 2

PREFACE

iii

PART I

A DISTINCT COMMUNITY

3

PART II

NETTY GLADSTONE

35

RUDI HART

77

SUSAN CLAPPER

119

RUDI WEIL

143

INGE BEACHAM

179

BEN WEISS

199

MAX HARPER

247

RITA DEVLETIAN

283

RITA GLANZ

317

ERNST BILLIG

335

APPENDIX - ELPIS LODGE

369

GLOSSARY

428

The Authors preface to volume 2

"This project has gone well beyond anything I had ever imagined. Former refugee families have been connected with the Christadelphians who sponsored them; letters, documents, and fates of family members that had remained largely unknown for decades were unearthed; and stories of hope, love, and faith that would otherwise have gone untold have been unveiled. In this way, it has shed light on the significance of the individual and their story in the midst of the enormity of the Holocaust. Each individual has a unique story, and each unique story bears its own value in being told. Sharing these stories has been a primary goal of this project.

Additionally the project has brought to light the story of a group of people, the Christadelphians, which believed fervently in the inspiration of the Bible, and thus the promises made to Abraham and in the hope of Israel contained therein. In this way, it has served as a reminder of the crucial role that doctrine plays and the impact it can have on actions. Beliefs affect behavior. Acknowledging this relationship has been another major goal of this project.

Unlike the first volume, this one features a much shorter introduction. It is assumed that in going through these pages, the reader already has knowledge of the Christadelphians and their unique beliefs. To ensure that this volume’s introduction builds upon that of the first, this introduction specifically portrays the Christadelphians’ apolitical stance and its connection to the Holocaust and considers the relationship of the Christadelphian community with the Jews from 1940 to 1945. This latter component helps to complete the record of the history of the Christadelphian Church and its connection to Jewry during era of the Third Reich, as the first volume’s introduction focused on Christadelphian history and the Christadelphians and the Jews up until around 1939.

The bulk of this book comprises ten individual stories; their details help convey the sheer magnitude of the Holocaust. Six million Jews perished at the hands of Hitler and his followers. So, too, did six million stories. Each person murdered was an individual: a father, a son, a mother, a daughter. Each had hopes, goals, dreams, and fears. ese were all destroyed in the Holocaust.

I hope that the sharing of this handful of individual survivor stories will serve as a vivid reminder that each person who perished also had a story—and that these stories taken together, six million of them, could fill countless pages.

The stories herein can be told because a small Christian group, the Christadelphians, was moved to act on behalf of Europe’s Jews.

This second volume, in contrast to the first, which focused nearly wholly on children who lived with Christadelphians families, tells the stories of five refugees who came to live in Elpis Lodge: Rudi Hart, Ben and Heinz Weiss, and Max and Rolf Koenigsbuch. Consequently, it seemed appropriate to include an appendix of primary sources about Elpis Lodge. I hope those sources will help create a picture of Elpis Lodge and of the collaboration between the Christadelphian community and the wartime Jewish community. ese sources can also build a clearer understanding of why the Christadelphians jumped in wholeheartedly to help save Jewish children from annihilation.

Just as with the first volume, the stories included in these pages were both read and approved by the refugees and/or their families before being printed. The chapters are named after the refugees with whom I have been in contact. As such, the experiences are told from their respective points of view. Max Harper’s biography is a notable exception—I named the chapter after Max and have been in contact with him, but relied on his deceased older brother Rolf’s memories of growing up in Hamburg, which were recorded in 1955, to provide the details of the brothers’ early life.

May these stories bear out the care shown by Christadelphians to the Jews in their time of distress. In so doing, may these accounts serve as a source of inspiration: despite the darkness that enveloped Europe more than 70 years ago, some sparks of light shone, lit by the fervent beliefs of the Christadelphians, bringing hope to those who otherwise would have been crushed by the darkness. "